Retired District Officer Robert Barnes shows off the award he received from the Hanover Fire Department, in recognition of his 41 years of service to the Jamaica Fire Brigade, on Wednesday evening at the Grand Palladium Hotels and Resorts in Lucea. With him is Gail Wellington. - Photo by Claudia Gardner

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Hanover Fire Department honoured one of the Jamaica Fire Brigade's longest-serving firefighters, retired District Officer Robert Barnes, during a special awards ceremony, held in his honour at the Grand Palladium Hotels and Resorts in Lucea, on Wednesday evening.

Barnes served for 41 years as a firefighter in the Jamaica Fire Brigade, after enlisting at age 19. He spent 29 years at the Hanover Fire Department until his retirement in September this year, but also served in the Trelawny and St Ann fire departments.

Careful coordination

He was lauded as having distinguished himself by his careful coordination of operations at the Hanover Fire Department and for providing a consistent, timely and meaningful flow of information. Barnes was also praised for his good sense of humour, his engaging spirit and his excellent rapport, especially with the younger firefighters.

Barnes told The Gleaner that one of his most frightening moments in the fire service occurred while he was based at the Ocho Rios fire station, after the Ocean Village shopping plaza was burnt to the ground in a blaze which raged at the site for approximately 11 hours.

Moment of terror

"At that time I was the sergeant at the station. There were others, including the district officer and the driver. The crew members ran off and left me at the scene because the place was so smoke laden that they couldn't stand up. All I did, I fell flat on the ground with my hose pumping water on to the fire. That was my moment of terror. I kept putting water onto the fire until the entire area was cooled down. When I cooled it down, they came back," Barnes recalled.

He added that despite the "ups and downs", he was proud of having enlisted in the brigade and having spent all his working life there.

"I have enjoyed my years in the service, every single moment of it. It is an exciting job but, it is a challenging job, because you are working against the elements, and some days you have it good but some days it is going to be very tough, and so you have to have the motivation to get you there," he said.